


Alive and Free

by unhoes



Category: Great Pretender (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bisexual Edamura, Edamura is a nerd, Edamura lives in an orphanage, Embarrassing Situations, F/F, F/M, Homophobia, Kidnapping but not really, M/M, Non-consensual sex, Parties, Skinny Dipping, Underage Drinking, Underage Sex, Vandalism, abandoned buildings, edgy teens doing edgy things, gay Laurent, more tags will be added with each chapter, ocs are background characters, randonauting, rebellious Abby, rebellious Cynthia, rebellious Laurent, thrifting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:40:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26619865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unhoes/pseuds/unhoes
Summary: The high school AU nobody asked for.
Relationships: Edamura Makoto/Laurent Thierry
Comments: 23
Kudos: 172





	1. Chapter 1

Makoto Edamura was one of the only kids in his school who knew how to speak fluent Japanese. While he was born in California, his parents were both born and raised in Japan. Edamura has visited his grandmother there a few times, but after she died when he was nine he never went again.

Edamura may have been born and raised in California, but he still lived like a Japanese kid. He went by his last name and spoke Japanese at home. He had perfected his American accent at a young age in hopes he wouldn’t get made fun of at school. This wasn’t exactly the case.

While he didn’t get picked on or bullied as much as the unpopular kids in the movies, Edamura felt isolated at school. He didn’t have very many friends, he only had two from when he moved to his current school district in the fifth grade. They had other friends though, so he was mostly alone at school.

It also didn’t help that Edamura had perfect grades. He was a straight A+ student and he was at the top of his class. He was always answering questions in class. He knew the other kids got annoyed that he knew so much, but he liked to think they’d be working at McDonald’s while he had a big corporation job in the future.

“Edamura! Hey!” One of just friends from fifth grade, Katie, came up to him. Katie had been his best friend since a month after he moved here. At first, while the other kids crowded around him to meet the new kid, she stood off to the side with his only other current friend, Hannah, and glared daggers at him. Later, he found out that Katie had been the new girl before him, so she was probably just jealous.

Once the teacher paired Katie and Edamura up in class, he quickly became friends with her. He found out that behind her angry daggers was a happy girl from a broken home. She had helped him out a lot after his father got arrested in 6th grade and his mother died freshman year. Currently, they were juniors.

“Hey, Katie!” Edamura smiled at her.

“I feel like I never see you anymore. That’s too bad really. Anyways, I have to meet my boyfriend so I just thought I’d say hi to you real quick. See ya!” Katie waved before jogging off when she saw her boyfriend waiting for her at the end of the hallway.

Somewhere between fifth grade and now, Katie had changed a lot. She went from being a sweet girl and an amazing friend to being kind of a bitch. In middle school, she became friends with a popular girl who pretended to be nice, but Edamura knew she was really a bitch. Edamura had been completely replaced at that point by the other girl.

In 8th grade, Katie’s new best friend had ditched her and started awful rumors about her. Edamura’s empty lunch table became occupied by Katie once again as he held her while she cried.

When high school started, Katie ditched him once again. This time, it was for a boyfriend. A week later, her boyfriend found out she had been cheating on him. Throughout freshman year, she cheated on a few more guys with no consequences. She also began posting videos of her eating ice cream in very sexual ways on her social media. The worst part was the things she said when she finally spoke to Edamura.

“Have you gotten fatter? If you were a girl I would’ve thought you were pregnant.” She commented offhandedly one day. Edamura felt like shit after that comment and began feeling insecure about his body.

Now, she was dating some random senior from their school. Edamura didn’t know his name and didn’t care to know. Katie hadn’t spoken to him in so long, at this point he was sort of giving up.

“Edamura! Can I have a hug?” Then there was Hannah. She seemed like the sweetest girl ever, which she was known as to the entire school. Edamura knew the truth, though. She would speak badly about her other friends constantly. She also made comments about Edamura that made him feel insecure about himself. He was used to it at this point, though. His self esteem had been crushed since middle school.

“Wanna try a sip of my blueberry latte?” She held up a Dunkin’ Donuts cup and Edamura put the straw to his lips and took a sip.

“That tastes great!” He smiled.

“I know, right?” She giggled. “Well, I guess I should get to class. You should too! Can’t have the smartest guy in school being late!” She punched him lightly on the arm before waving goodbye to him. They were his only two friends and they rarely ever even spoke to him. Edamura was lonely.

Despite the fact that Edamura barely hung out with Katie and Hannah, there were still many rumors about him since his only two friends were girls. Many people thought that Katie was cheating again with him. Some people thought Hannah and him were dating. Majority of their school, though, thought Edamura was gay. That was only half true. Edamura tried not to mind those comments though.

Later that day, Edamura sat in the hallway next to the gym. He sat in the small space between the wall and the vending machine. While it was a bit dusty, he always sat here to eat his lunch. It was better than sitting in the cafeteria alone, yet surrounded by everyone.

As Edamura bit into his granola bar from the vending machine, he heard footsteps walking his way.

“Should we skip next period?” A girl’s voice asked.

“If I skip again my parents will flip.” Another girl with a deeper voice replied.

“We only have one period left after this, it would be a waste.” A male voice spoke.

“That’s true.” The first girl sighed. The three of them stopped in front of the vending machine and Edamura prayed that they wouldn’t see him. He didn’t know their names, but he recognized one of the girls and the guy as seniors. He also recognized the other girl from his grade who didn’t care about her grades and always slacked off. He assumed the other two must be rebels as well.

The senior girl was beautiful. She had a large chest and long pretty red hair. She had long eyelashes that complimented her brown eyes and perfect complexion. She’d probably be popular if she hung out with a different crowd and played a sport.

The girl from his grade had pretty, darker skin. Her black hair was cut into a bob and she had large brown eyes. She was also very pretty. 

When Edamura laid eyes on the only boy, he wondered to himself why these three were so attractive. The boy was tall and had his eyelids half closed. It somehow made him look cool. He had light blonde, almost white, shaggy hair with bangs that fell into his face. He had a strong jawline with sideburns. Finally, he had a smirk that perfectly complimented his cool guy exterior. Edamura hoped to god these cool people wouldn’t notice him cowering in the corner like an idiot.

The girl with black hair put a dollar in and pressed the button for a bag of cheezits. When they got stuck, she became enraged. She shook the entire machine and Edamura thought he’d be crushed between the wall and the machine. He yelped in shock a bit too late, because the red haired girl pulled her back and they immediately noticed the noise in the silent hallway. The three of them exchanged glances before looking between the wall and machine.

“Well, well. What do we have here?” Edamura looked up into the blue eyes of the cool guy. His smirk became even larger as he stared down at Edamura.

“Why the hell are you sitting there?” The girl with black hair huffed.

“Geez! You almost killed me and that’s all you have to say?” Edamura glared at her. The girl looked like she was about to hit him until the red haired girl held him back.

“Makoto Edamura. Interesting.” The boy grinned.

“How do you know my name?” Edamura’s eyebrows furrowed.

“I know everything about everyone in this school, Edamame. At least, I hear all the rumors that is. Are you actually gay?” He shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Who the hell are you?” Edamura avoided the question.

“Laurent Thierry. Nice to meet you. You’re the smartest kid in school with the highest GPA. Impressive!” He held a hand out to Edamura.

“Wait a minute, did you call me Edamame? It’s Edamura!” Edamura refused the hand.

“Who knew the smartest kid in school was this feisty!” Laurent laughed.

“Hi! I’m Cynthia. This is Abby.” The red haired girl introduced herself and the scowling girl.

“Nice to meet you.” Edamura blushed.

“I’m hurt! It’s nice to meet Cynthia and Abby but not me? You must not be gay after all.” Laurent chuckled.

“You can’t just ask someone if they’re gay.” Edamura mumbled.

“Why not? I don’t mind when people ask me.” Laurent smiled.

“People ask you a lot?” Edamura looked up at him curiously.

“Obviously. I’m in the same position as you, Edamame. My only two friends are girls just like you. Although, I actually hang out with my friends.” Laurent mentioned.

“Hey! I hang out with my friends!” Edamura lied.

“Is that why you’re sitting here eating lunch and not in the cafeteria with your so-called friends?” Laurent smirked.

“Leave me alone. Lunch was so peaceful until you showed up.” Edamura rolled his eyes before finishing his granola bar and getting up to throw the wrapper away. Cynthia and Laurent parted to let him pass.

“You know, if you ever want real friends we’d be willing to let you hang out with us.” Laurent offered.

“No thanks. I need to focus on studying anyways.” Edamura threw his wrapper into the trash can next to the gym door.

“That’s boring, though! You’ll never have any fun that way.” Cynthia pouted.

“I need a good job in the future. Fun is a waste of time.” Edamura began to walk away. Laurent and Cynthia watched him walk off with interest. Abby glared at him in annoyance.

After school, Edamura went straight home to work on his homework. He entered and waved to the orphanage director. She was a nice woman named Linda. She loved all the kids as if they were her own.

“How was school, Edamura?” She asked.

“It was alright.” Edamura shrugged. “Boring as always.”

“I’m sure an opportunity will come where it gets more interesting soon! Try to make some new friends, I still can’t believe you’re the only teenager here and yet you never use your 12 PM curfew.” She joked.

“It’s not exactly easy, Linda. Everyone has known each other for years now, they’re not gonna suddenly wanna become my friend.” Edamura sighed.

“You never know!” Linda shouted as he began his ascent up the stairs and to his room. He shared his room with the second oldest boy in the orphanage. His name was Ethan and he was in the seventh grade.

“Hey, Edamura!” Ethan grinned when he walked in.

“Hey, kiddo.” Edamura ruffles his hair. He thought of Ethan as a little brother.

“I overheard Linda talking on the phone this morning. Apparently a couple is coming in next week and they want a son! Maybe one of us will get adopted!” Ethan’s eyes sparkled with excitement. Edamura hoped that Ethan would be the one picked. He was so excited to have a new family that loved him. Edamura doubted he’d get that. He was turning eighteen next year, nobody wanted to adopt a kid that would only be under their roof for a year before they’d have to help him pay for college.

“I bet they’ll pick you. Who wouldn’t want a kid as cool as you?” Edamura smiled at him.

“Yeah, but who wouldn’t want a kid as smart as you?” Ethan grinned.

“Apparently lots of people.” Edamura muttered under his breath. They sat in silence for a couple hours, doing their homework. That was until Ethan broke the silence.

“Hey, Makoto?” Edamura looked up from his homework with an eyebrow raised in question.

“What’s up?”

“If you don’t get adopted by next year, it’s okay. You’ll always be my cool older brother.” Ethan smiled. Edamura began to tear up at that. He pushed his textbook off his lap and ran forward, engulfing Ethan in a hug. Ethan chuckled as he hugged him back. Edamura didn’t need a family or friends as long as he had Ethan.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day at school, Edamura kept an eye on Laurent, Cynthia, and Abby in the cafeteria. He sat at the empty table next to the vending machine in the back of the cafeteria. Laurent, Cynthia, and Abby sat at the table closest to the exit of the cafeteria.

As he ate his lunch, Edamura noticed just how rowdy the group really was. They talked awfully loud, so loud that Edamura could hear them from halfway across the cafeteria in a room full of other loud kids talking. They were currently laughing obnoxiously loud at something on Cynthia’s phone. Upon squinting a bit, Edamura could make out male genitalia. Edamura blushed and distracted himself with his phone. Since they were laughing at it, Edamura assumed it must belong to one of Cynthia’s exes. 

After finishing his lunch, Edamura decided to leave early and go to the library and study a bit more. As he walked past Laurent’s table, he prayed he wouldn’t be noticed. Of course, he was.

“Edamame! Come sit with us!” Cynthia smiled at him.

“No thanks.” He replied before trying to walk away. Laurent grabbed his wrist to prevent him from leaving.

“Why not? Don’t think I didn’t notice you staring at us all lunch. If you wanted to sit with us you could’ve just asked!” Laurent had that stupid smirk on his face again.

“I’m going to the library to study.” 

“Geez! You’re always studying! Have some fun, learn to let loose a little!” Cynthia rolled her eyes.

“Come on, there’s an open seat next to Abby!” Laurent gestured to the space beside Abby. Said girl glared at him. He didn’t know what he had done to offend her.

“Abby doesn’t look like she wants me to sit next to her. I have to study anyways, I have a test next period.” Edamura told him.

“You’re the smartest kid in school, you’ve probably been studying for this for weeks now.” Cynthia looked at him unimpressed.

“I have, but it’s always good to refresh my memory right before to ensure I get every question right.” Edamura huffed before walking away without another word.

“How are we gonna remove the stick from that boy’s ass?” Cynthia asked.

“I have the perfect plan.” Laurent smirked. “But, it’s probably illegal so it’ll have to be our last resort. For now, let’s just spend all our time annoying him until he caves in.” 

Annoy they did. Edamura noticed the rest of the week, he was constantly around at least one of them. He found out he had a class with Abby that he hadn’t realized before. Laurent and Cynthia also managed to transfer into one of his elective classes each. How they did that in the middle of the school year, Edamura had no idea. 

The three of them continued to annoy him throughout Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Laurent always stared at him in class as he tried to concentrate. Cynthia always started random conversations with him in the middle of class while he was trying to pay attention and answer questions. Abby always asked him for an extra pencil every single class, but he could tell she would rather be anywhere else than talking to him at that moment.

At lunch on Friday, Edamura sat at his usual table by himself. He was surprised when he felt two people sit in the seat across from him. He looked up and saw Katie and Hannah.

“Uh, hey?” He smiled in confusion. They never sat with him.

“Edamura. I just thought I’d let you know there are a lot of rumors going around about you right now.” Katie frowned.

“What? New ones?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, ever since you started hanging out with those dangerous people.” Hannah added.

“Dangerous people?”

“You know, Laurent, Cynthia, and Abby. They’re always skipping class and getting into trouble and have awful grades?” Katie explained as if he was dumb.

“It’s not like I ask them to hang out with me. They’re just sorta everywhere I go now.” He frowned.

“Well unless you distance yourself, we don’t wanna be associated with you anymore.” Hannah told him.

“Wait what? Why? How bad are the new rumors?” Edamura furrowed his eyebrows.

“At first we didn’t care since we knew for a fact the rumors were fake since we’re involved, but now people are saying that you’re dating Laurent and doing dangerous activities with him and his friends.” Katie sighed.

“What? I’m not dating Laurent!” He shouted. A few people looked over at them. He didn’t notice Laurent, Abby, and Cynthia looking at him in curiosity.

“Well, even if you aren’t gay we can’t be associated with someone who seems gay. You have been hanging out with him a lot lately. He’s the only out gay student in school, too.” Hannah explained.

“He is? That’s not important. You guys won’t hang out with me anymore because you think I’m gay?”

“No, because you hang out with Laurent who is gay, and his gay could spread to you and then to us!” Katie panicked.

“Being gay isn’t a disease! You know what? If that’s how you think then I don’t wanna be associated with people like you either.” Edamura got up from the table and stormed towards the cafeteria doors.

“Edamame! Sit with us?” Laurent offered before he could leave.

“No.” He pushed the door open and went straight to the library.

Luckily, Edamura didn’t have any classes with Laurent, Cynthia, or Abby for the rest of the day. He did however run into Laurent on his way to his last class of the day.

“Edamame! Wanna hang out with us after school?” Laurent asked.

“No thanks.”

“Oh, come on! It’ll be fun!” Laurent assured him.

“I don’t want to.”

“Honestly? I don’t think you really have a choice. Unless you’d rather be friendless for the rest of your high school career. Don’t you wanna know what it’s like to have friends?” Before Edamura could interject, he continued. “I mean real friends. Not those girls in the cafeteria who implied being gay is a disease. Thanks for sticking up for me, by the way. You acted like a true friend back there.” He smiled. It was weird seeing him smile genuinely instead of smirking.

“Look, I’m sorry. If I’ve survived school this long without friends, I can deal with one more year after this one ends.” Edamura told him before walking off to his last class.

As he watched Edamura walk away, Laurent ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. He took his phone out of his pocket and quickly sent a message to the group chat.

“Plan B.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Me procrastinating? It’s more likely than you’d think. Also this is me shoving my taste in music onto you guys lmao

After the bell rang, signifying he was free to go, Edamura grabbed his backpack and exited the school. He began walking home by himself. The streets weren’t very populated at the moment, making what happened next a huge burden for Edamura.

He heard the screech of tires and turned to see what had caused it. He saw Abby and Cynthia running at him and before he could even process what was happening, the two girls dragged him into the back of a white van. After the doors closed behind him, Laurent began speeding away. Edamura wrestled his arms from the girls’s grips and began yelling.

“What the hell! You can’t just kidnap someone off the fucking street!” Edamura screamed.

“Too late!” Laurent smirked at him through the rearview mirror.

“You left us no choice, hun! We aren’t gonna let your last two years of high school go to waste!” Cynthia told him.

“This is bullshit! Why can’t you guys just leave me the hell alone!” 

“I agree. We should leave him alone. It’s clear he doesn’t wanna hang out with us and I don’t wanna hang out with him.” Abby grunted.

“Hey!” Edamura glared at her.

“We’re gonna have fun whether you want to or not!” Cynthia yelled. “To the oral school!”

“The what?” Edamura’s voice was blocked out by the sound of Laurent rolling down all the windows and blasting the radio. The song Tongue Tied by Grouplove was on and Cynthia stuck her hand out the window and giggled happily while Laurent sang along to the song. Each red light they came to, people stopped to stare at them in confusion much to Edamura’s embarrassment.

Once they got closer to their destination, Laurent turned the sound down and rolled up the windows. Cynthia pulled a bag out from under the seat. Edamura wasn’t sure what was in it. They parked on the side of the road, hidden under trees. They all began to get out of the car.

“Where are we?” Edamura furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. It looked like they were in someone’s neighborhood.

“We just have to walk a bit before we get there, be patient.” Cynthia grinned at him. They began to walk down the road, appearing like they were just going for a walk around their neighborhood.

Soon, a large brick building came into sight. It was covered in overgrown vines and broken windows. Edamura could see some graffiti on the outside. It was obvious this building was abandoned. A large sign warned them not to trespass. Edamura’s eyes widened when he watched the three begin to walk up the hill and past the no trespassing sign, completely ignoring it.

“Guys! Why are you doing? That sign says no trespassing!” He yelled.

“Shh! It’s fine! We’ve been here before!” Abby scolded him for talking too loud. They didn’t want the neighbors to be alerted and call the police.

“This is illegal!” He whisper shouted.

“So what? Nobody ever gets caught here. The cops don’t care about this place unless the neighbors see you and call, so let’s hurry up and go in before they see us!” Abby walked over to a door. She tried the handle, but it was locked.

“I can’t remember which door is propped open.” Laurent tried to remember.

“Wasn’t it the one over there?” Cynthia pointed to a door a bit farther away. Before they could walk over, they heard a car approaching.

“Quick! Hide!” Abby and Cynthia ran for the bushes while Laurent grabbed Edamura’s wrist and ran towards the other side of the building where they wouldn’t be seen. He slipped into a small space and pulled Edamura to his chest as they waited for the car to pass. Edamura blushed at how close they were. Laurent smelled good, like expensive cologne. Before he knew it, they were separated again.

“Sorry about that.” Laurent smirked at him when he noticed the slight blush still on Edamura’s face.

“Hurry up, guys!” Cynthia found the door propped open by a rock while they had been distracted and held it open. The three entered the building and Cynthia followed behind. 

Inside, it was dark. The only light was provided by sunlight, so only the rooms with windows were bright. The hallways looked dark and creepy. The concrete floor was covered in debris and the whole place smelled extremely old with a hint of weed. The walls were covered in graffiti in some rooms.

As they walked through the building, Edamura was glad he had worn his work boots that day. He heard the crunch of broken glass under his feet with each step he took. While he was a bit nervous since what they were doing was illegal, he had to admit the building was really cool. He loved looking at photos of old abandoned places online, so being able to experience one in person was amazing.

“So? What do you think, Edamame?” Cynthia grinned.

“It’s cool.” He smiled in amazement. They entered the auditorium of the old school and Edamura stepped up the stairs and onto the stage. It was covered in dust and debris, but as he looked out at the other three he tried to imagine a school principal giving an assembly up here. Old buildings held so much history.

They explored some more classrooms and went up the stairs to the different floors. As they went up the stairs, Edamura heard movement in one of the rooms. He paled before peeking his head in. Luckily, it was just a bird flying around. It must’ve gotten trapped in the room due to the open window. Edamura opened the window wider and herded the bird towards the window. After a few minutes, the bird finally flew out. It made Edamura sad, though when he saw another bird was dead on the floor.

“Wow! Edamura you saved that bird! See, if you were less of a nerd I bet you’d have girls all over you. Girls love guys who save animals, and plus I bet you’re pretty cute under those glasses and those two sweaters you alternate between every day.” Cynthia teased.

“I don’t have time for a girlfriend. I need to get perfect grades so I can get a good scholarship. Which I should be studying right now instead of hanging out here with you guys.” Edamura huffed.

“Do you regret coming here?” Laurent asked. Edamura wanted to say yes so badly, but he couldn’t.

“...no.” He admitted reluctantly. He didn’t want to look at the smug expressions Cynthia and Laurent were sharing right now, so he continued to explore after stepping off the stage.

Edamura entered the next room and saw a bunch of graffiti that made him blush. There were some offensive terms painted into the wall as well as porn website URLs. He could tell that some of the graffiti had been done recently, because someone had written a current meme reference on the wall. Edamura chuckled a bit when he saw the word hentai spray painted largely across the wall in red paint. Laurent and Cynthia joined in too while Abby did her best to hold in her amused expression.

“Go stand on either side of it! I’ll take your picture!” Cynthia took out her phone and held it up. Laurent dragged Edamura to the wall. Edamura stood at the beginning of the word while Laurent stood at the end. Edamura smiled awkwardly while Laurent had his usual smug smirk on his face. Cynthia took the picture and sent it to Laurent.

“What’s your number, Edamame? I’ll send it to you too!” Edamura put his number into her phone. She sent him the picture a few seconds later. If Edamura made the photo his wallpaper, nobody had to know.

When they went downstairs again, they noticed a large blank wall. Cynthia, Abby, and Laurent studied it closely as if inspecting it.

“Uh, what are you guys doing?” Edamura raised an eyebrow.

“Edamame, what do you see?” Laurent asked. Edamura looked at him in confusion.

“A blank wall?”

“Well, what I see is a blank canvas.” He smirked before holding his hand out, not taking his eyes off the wall in front of them. Cynthia reached into the bag and pulled out a can of blue spray paint. She placed it in his hand. Laurent thanked her before shaking the can and taking the cap off.

“Laurent! Trespassing is one thing, but vandalism too? We’d be breaking another law!” Edamura frowned nervously.

“Relax. The only people who ever come in here are losers like us. People only come here to vandalize or smoke weed. Nobody is gonna care.” Abby held out her hand as well and Cynthia gave her an orange can. She shook it and uncapped it.

“Wanna join us?” Cynthia smirked as she reached into the bag and held out a green can of spray paint. Edamura looked at the can for a few seconds as he debated in his head. Other people had vandalized here. There was nobody around. It should be fine, right? Edamura reached for the can and shook it like the others had. He took the cap off and aimed the spray towards the wall. Cynthia took out her own can of red spray paint.

As soon as the first drop of paint left the can, Edamura felt absolutely amazing. He felt free for the first time since he was a kid. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he sprayed the wall with the rest of his... friends. Maybe he did want friends after all. This was a lot more fun than studying at home for hours.

Once they finished, everyone stepped back to admire their work. Laurent and Cynthia had simply put their initials and Cynthia had added the date to hers for whoever saw this years from now and could be amazed at how long ago it was painted. Abby had sprayed freaks and weirdos only onto the wall.

“What does yours mean, Edamame?” Cynthia asked. The four of them studied his work. It simply said “alive and free.”

“They’re words I wish could describe my favorite people. Today I realized that you guys are right. I need to start living a little so I can avoid becoming my parents. I always want to remember this feeling, so I captured it on the wall for eternity.” Edamura smiled.

“Whatever that means.” Cynthia chuckled.

“Oh, to be smart like Edamame!” Laurent sighed.

“Why’d you have to get all deep, just write your initials like a normal person.” Abby rolled her eyes.

After that, they continued walking through the second floor that they hadn’t explored before going upstairs. They found a wall made of glass windows inside. A rock sat next to it. Cynthia eyed the rock with a smirk.

“Don’t even think about it! That gonna be so loud!” Edamura yelled.

“But I’ve always wanted to break a window!” Cynthia whined.

“This is a bad idea!” Edamura warned anxiously. “Come on! Abby, Laurent, back me up!” 

“I say go for it.” Abby shrugged, probably just to spite him. Laurent whistled innocently while looking away. Edamura face palmed as Cynthia picked up the large rock.

“Someone record this!” She waited for Laurent to take out his phone and start recording. When Laurent gave her a thumbs up, she chucked the rock into the glass. A few pieces of glass broke off, but it was mainly just a super loud bang that echoed throughout the building.

“That was so loud!” Edamura yelled as Cynthia laughed crazily.

“Wait, guys. Quiet.” Abby stiffened and walked toward the window facing the back of the building. She peeked outside and cursed.

“What’s wrong?” Laurent asked.

“There’s a cop car outside!” Abby cursed again. Edamura wasn’t sure if it was because he was in shock, but he didn’t feel scared at all much to his surprise.

“Let’s go!” Laurent ran towards the stairs, ducking under the windows to make sure they wouldn’t be seen. 

“This way!” Cynthia gestured for them to go left once they ran down the stairs. They found the door they had entered through and began running towards the car. Before Edamura could go further, Abby yanked him backwards. Before Edamura could scold her for it, she pointed at the cop car that was currently parked between Laurent’s hidden van and where they currently were. 

“Fuck! What if they took my license plate? They could’ve already called my mom by now!” Laurent cursed.

“Calm down. She’d be calling you now if that was the case. They probably didn’t even take your plate number, so calm down. They probably either can’t see the car or they just think it’s a neighborhood car.” Cynthia tried to reason.

“How the hell are we supposed to get to the car? They’re gonna see us walk from the building to get there and arrest us for trespassing.” Abby pointed out. Suddenly, Edamura had a thought.

“Follow me.”

“What? No fucking way!” Abby whispered.

“I have a plan that will work. Trust me.” Edamura had an extremely serious expression on his face.

“I trust you.” Cynthia told him without a doubt.

“Well, I don’t see anyone else with a plan so we don’t really have a choice.” Laurent replied, oddly serious and nervous.

“Fine, but if we get arrested I’ll kill you.” Abby glared at him. Edamura turned the other direction and began running stealthily around the edge of the building.

“Hate to break it to you, but the car is that way!” Abby whisper yelled.

“Just trust me!” They followed him around the side of the building that was out of sight to the cop. Once they were on the complete opposite side, they carefully slid down the steep hill and onto the road.

“Now what? They’re still gonna see us if we run to the car.” Abby deadpanned.

“That’s why we walk to the car.” Edamura told her.

“Are you crazy? That leaves even more time for them to see us!” Abby hissed.

“So what if they see us? They have no proof we were in the building. We were just going for a nice stroll through the neighborhood.” Edamura grinned.

“Edamura, you’re a genius!” Cynthia smiled. They walked down the road and towards the car as inconspicuously as possible. Edamura threw in some extra acting skills when he saw the cop looking at them and pointed to the building with wide eyes, as if he hadn’t just been inside of it.

“What are you doing?” Abby asked.

“The cop is looking at us!” Edamura said with an excited expression to make it look like he was talking about how cool the building looked. Luckily, the car was parked so far out of sight that the cop didn’t even know there was a car over there. They quickly got in the van and drove away as fast as possible.

“Are you a theater kid or something? How are you so good at acting? You had that cop completely fooled.” Laurent grinned at him.

“I guess I’m just kinda used to lying and acting.” Edamura shrugged. He often acted on his best behavior and like he wouldn’t be too high maintenance whenever he was interviewed by a couple. Still, even with that he was never chosen.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m hungry as hell after that.” Cynthia patted her flat stomach.

“I could eat.” Abby replied.

“McDonald’s?” Laurent asked. Abby and Cynthia nodded and they all turned to him.

“Oh, I’m fine with anything. I’m probably not gonna get anything, I didn’t bring money.” The truth was he had exactly zero dollars in his name. That’s why he only owned one pair of jeans and a couple worn out sweaters. His allowance from Linda went into keeping up with his glasses prescription. Linda offered to pay for his eye exams and glasses, but Edamura felt guilty letting her do that since she was already running low on funds and had to provide all the children in the orphanage with enough food while also paying the bills each month.

“That’s okay, I’ll pay for you.” Laurent smiled at him through the rearview mirror.

“You don’t have to-“

“Just accept my offer. I’m rich so it doesn’t matter.” Laurent interrupted.

“It’s true, he is.” Cynthia giggled.

“I’m paying for you too, Abby.” He told her.

“Thanks.” Her glare seemed to soften slightly.

They pulled into the drive through and everyone told Laurent their order. Laurent ordered everything and pulled up to the window. He handed the dude who looked to be their age, his credit card. Afterwards, they got their food and Laurent parked in the parking lot. Laurent handed everyone their food.

“Is this really all you wanted?” Laurent asked as he handed Edamura his six piece chicken nugget and his small fry. He also passed back his orange soda.

“Yeah, this is what I normally get.” Or it used to be when he used to come here with his parents.

“Next time, don’t be afraid to order more than a kid’s meal. I mean it when I say money isn’t a problem. I mean just look at what Abby ordered.” He chuckled. Edamura looked to the side to see Abby eating a Big Mac. She also had a twenty piece chicken nugget and a large fry with a large soda. The others seemed to have large meals too. He wondered how much they worked out in order to have such great bodies while eating like that.

After eating their food, Laurent turned to the back seat to face Abby and Edamura again.

“Do you have to be home at a certain time?” Laurent asked Edamura.

“My curfew isn’t until midnight.” Edamura told him.

“Alright, Cinderella. Let’s go to Target just to waste some time.” Laurent pulled out of the parking lot and began driving the fifteen minutes it would take to get to Target. 

On the highway, Laurent rolled all the windows down again. Abby continued sipping her soda while staring out the window. Cynthia once again had her hand out the window riding the wind. Laurent was singing along to Out of my League, which was blasting on the radio this time. Edamura loved the feeling of the wind in his hair. He truly felt alive today. He was honestly glad Laurent, Cynthia, and Abby had kidnapped him.

“Let’s play a game where we find random outfits for each other and we have to try them on!” Cynthia suggested after they had arrived and entered the store.

“That sounds fun!” Laurent agreed. They headed towards the clothing section. They all chose outfits for each other together and forced each other into the dressing room one at a time. First was Cynthia.

The first outfit Cynthia came out in was an oversized purple shirt. It went down to the middle of her thighs and the sleeves went down to her elbows. She also wore baggy ripped jeans and white sneakers. She accessorized with a gold chain necklace, a little black purse, a black pair of square shaped sunglasses, and a black bucket hat. Her red hair cascaded down her back.

“It’s a nice outfit, but it doesn’t really suit your style. Seems more like something Abby would wear.” Laurent observed.

“Agreed. Time for outfit number two!” She went back in to change. The next outfit was a white t-shirt. Layered on top of it was a black and white sweater vest. She also wore black jeans and black sneakers. She wore a gold necklace and left her hair down once again.

“That one looks like Edamame’s style.” Abby said.

“Hey! I don’t dress like that!” 

“Yes you do. All you wear is the same pair of jeans every day and the same two worn out sweaters.” She rolled her eyes.

“Last outfit!” Cynthia came out of the dressing room in a white sports bra with a light gray jacket over it. She wore light blue mom jeans and white sneakers. She also wore a gold chain and a pair of dangly earrings with the black sunglasses from the first outfit.

“Still not your style. You have a more elegant style.” Laurent told her.

“Edamura’s turn!” Cynthia giggled as she pushed him into the dressing room after changing back into her normal clothes.

Edamura hung up the outfits his new friends had chosen for him. He tried the first one on and looked in the mirror self consciously. He sighed before exiting the dressing room. He wore a gold chain with a lock on it, a dark green champion sweater layered on top of a white collared shirt, black pants that he tucked the sweater into, a knockoff Gucci belt, and a pair of white sneakers.

“You look like a million bucks!” Cynthia praised his looks. He blushed slightly.

“You don’t think it looks stupid?” He asked.

“You should untuck the sweater and ditch the belt. Looks stupid that way.” Abby deadpanned.

“I think you look great, Edamame.” Laurent winked at him. Edamura went back into the dressing room mostly to hide the blush on his face. The next outfit was a light gray sweater layered on top of a white collared shirt once again. It was paired with a pair of tan plaid pants with a chain. He also wore white sneakers and a silver chain around his neck. He exited the dressing room.

“Sweaters are definitely your style if you bought some that actually looked nice and learned to style them!” Cynthia grinned.

“I agree. You went from looking like a loser nerd to a sexy nerd. The kind of nerd girls who are into nerds would date.” Laurent chuckled.

For his final outfit, he wore a black t-shirt tucked into a pair of tan khakis. They were held together by a leather belt. He also wore a black jacket over the t-shirt, and black socks. He wore dark brown dress shoes. When he exited, Cynthia and Laurent were blushing.

“You look so handsome!” Cynthia gushed.

“You look like the type of guy I’d rail.” Laurent smirked with no shame.

“Gross.” Abby scoffed. Edamura blushed bright red.

“You should buy that outfit!”

“I’d never wear it anywhere. It’s a bit too formal for school.” 

“I guess you’re right.” Cynthia pouted.

Laurent and Abby tried their outfits on, and Laurent actually ended up buying a blue and white striped button up he tried on. Later on, Abby ended up buying some snacks from the food isles and Cynthia bought some stuff from the skincare isle.

“You aren’t getting anything, Edamame?” Cynthia asked as they were checking out.

“Nah, there wasn’t really anything that caught my eye.” Which was half of the truth. The other half being that he had no money whatsoever.

“That’s a good thing, you’ll never waste money that way.” Laurent chuckled as he rung up his shirt in self checkout.

“Not like you have to worry about wasting money.” Abby mumbled as she rung up her gushers.

After that, they began driving home. Laurent turned down the radio on the highway and rolled up the windows so he could hear Edamura.

“Where do you live, Edamame?” Edamura looked at him with a questioning look. “So I can drop you off at home.”

“Oh, you can just drop me off at the park next to where you kidnapped me.” Edamura answered.

“Are you sure? I can drive you all the way home if you want? It’s no trouble at all.”

“No, it’s fine.” Edamura responded.

“If you say so.”

After Edamura waved goodbye to his new friends, Laurent drove off. 

“Why do you think he asked to be dropped off at the park?” Cynthia asked.

“He probably doesn’t trust us with his address.” Abby answered.

“That’s true. I mean who would after we kidnapped him today.” Laurent chuckled.

“I like Edamura.” Cynthia smiled.

“Me too.” Laurent agreed.

“I don’t.” Abby interjected. The other two didn’t say anything, knowing she’d probably warm up to him eventually.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the nice comments!! They really encourage me to keep writing :) also TW for hints of non-consensual sex

A few days after hanging out outside of school with Laurent, Cynthia, and Abby, Edamura had a meeting with a couple who was interested in adopting a teenager. Couples like this were rare to come by, so he wanted to make as good of an impression as possible.

After hanging out with his new friends, he was surprised when he was added to a group chat with Cynthia, Abby, and Laurent. He already had Cynthia’s number saved, but he had trouble with Laurent and Abby’s numbers. Luckily, he was able to tell the difference between the two after an hour of lurking in the chat.

Laurent was currently spamming the group chat with TikToks. Edamura would’ve never expected Laurent to be on TikTok. He had to admit, some of the videos were actually pretty funny. Cynthia seemed to enjoy TikTok as well. She even had thousands of followers on her account after a video of her dancing went viral. It wasn’t even an original dance. The only reason it went viral was because she was a pretty girl.

“Edamura? The Johnson’s are here!” Linda poked her head into his room excitedly. He had been sitting in there ever since getting home from school, waiting by himself. All the other children of the orphanage were still in school, so he couldn’t even hang out with them.

Edamura entered the room, making sure his clothes were straight and tidy. He sat in the chair across from the man and woman, who smiled at him nicely.

“Hi, Makoto! Is it okay if we call you that?” Mrs. Johnson asked.

“Sure.” No, only his real parents and Ethan had ever called him by his first name. He wasn’t even sure if these people were going to adopt him. He didn’t want to seem rude, though.

“How was school today?” Mr. Johnson asked.

“It was alright. Nothing really interesting happened.” This was true. Cynthia had gone on a class field trip today, Laurent had a doctor’s appointment, so he left early, and Abby didn’t want to be left alone with Edamura, so she skipped school.

“I see. Do you play any sports?” Mr. Johnson asked.

“No, but I’m really smart! I have straight A+’s in all my classes and I have the highest GPA in school.” Edamura smiled.

“Impressive! But, don’t you think giving sports a try would be nice? You can get scholarships much easier that way and make lots of lifelong friendships!” Mrs. Johnson urged.

“I’m not all that interested in sports. I’m sure I can easily get a scholarship, though with how great my grades are. Plus, I’m already starting to make some new friends, so I have that part covered.” Edamura smiled.

“You aren’t willing to give sports a try?” Mr. Johnson frowned.

“No, I’m sorry.”

“I don’t think you’re the right fit for us. I’m sorry, kiddo.” Mr. Johnson sighed.

“That’s okay, sir. It was nice meeting you.”

Edamura went back to his room after that with a sense of defeat. Why couldn’t anyone want to adopt him for him? All they wanted were little kids who would grow up to be athletes. Edamura was neither of those things. He’d never be loved by a family. He ignored the texts from the group chat and turned his phone off.

The next day at school, Edamura is greeted by his three friends bright and early. Cynthia held a cup of coffee in her hands, which could explain her good mood. Laurent was just always in a good mood. Abby never was, so it wasn’t a surprise that she looked as tired and annoyed as he felt.

“Hey, Edamame! There’s a party tonight at one of my friend’s houses. He’s in college, so there’ll be lots of pretty college girls and boys there to hook up with.” Laurent smirked.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because you’re going with us, silly!” Cynthia butted in.

“Huh?”

“We’ll get food after school then head over to the party, okay?” Laurent told him. Edamura knew he had homework to do. He also had a test tomorrow. It was clear that nobody even cared if he got good grades anyways. What good was college for really?

“Okay.”

Edamura was surprised to say he was feeling excited for the party. It would be his first one and he had secretly always wanted to experience one. When the time came for him to meet up with his friends in the parking lot, he grabbed his bag and walked briskly out of the school.

“Yo, Edamura! Where should we go to eat?” Laurent smirked.

“Why does he get to choose?” Abby scoffed.

“Because knowing you, you’d make Laurent drive to a bunch of different places.” Cynthia giggled.

“It’s not my fault. Every place has their specialty. McDonald’s has great chicken nuggets, Burger King has good chicken fries, Wendy’s spicy chicken nuggets are amazing, but so is KFC’s popcorn chicken. I could also really go for a Baja blast right now.” Abby listed off her favorite food items.

“That’s a lot of chicken.” Edamura commented.

“So? Chicken is good.” Abby glared at him and Edamura held up his hands in defense.

After getting into the car, the four of them eventually decided on KFC. Laurent had his windows down as usual. This time, All Star by Smash Mouth was playing. Cynthia and Laurent laughed hysterically as they sang along to the lyrics. Edamura didn’t know why they still found it so hilarious. It was a dead meme.

After going through the drive thru and getting their food, they decided to take it to the park. They brought the food down by the water and sat on a bench. They ate their food while talking and laughing at the jokes Laurent and Cynthia made. Afterwards, it was time for the party.

As they got back into the car and began driving to whoever’s house this party was at, Edamura began to feel nervous. His leg bounced as he began to overthink every possibility that could occur at this party. What if he was drugged and... no. He didn’t want to think about that anymore. That part of him was locked away deep forever. Edamura wanted to have a good time tonight. He decided he would trust his friends and stick with them.

When Edamura walked into the house, his ears were immediately bombarded by the inappropriate lyrics of a Cardi B song. Hundreds of college students were singing and dancing to the music. The room smelled of smoke and alcohol. Just before Edamura could chicken out and turn right around and leave, he felt Cynthia nudge him. He looked over to see her beckoning him over where Laurent and Abby were heading.

First, he followed them into the kitchen. There was a guy in there pouring drinks. Laurent walked over and did some sort of handshake with the guy and he gave him a few drinks. Laurent handed a red solo cup to Edamura. He hesitated a bit before taking it. He smelled it and realized it smelled somewhat like cough syrup.

Edamura watched as Laurent spoke to the guy who gave them the drinks. He looked at Abby and Cynthia to see Cynthia chugging her cup with a sour expression on her face and Abby lightly sipping hers. Cynthia noticed him watching her and slung an arm around his neck, her breasts brushing up against his arm.

“C’mon Edamame! Loosen up a bit! You’re always so tense with your nerdy glasses and sweaters!” She giggled.

“How are we even going to get home after this?” Edamura asked.

“Laurent never drinks too much! I’m the only one who ever gets blackout drunk, but I don’t want your perception of me to be skewed.” She smiled at him. “This time I’ll only get a little bit drunk.” After that, she let go of his arm and wandered into a crowd of dancers.

“Should we go with her?” Edamura asked in concern.

“She can take care of herself.” Abby took another sip of her alcohol.

“Don’t worry, Edamame. I’m only having a few sips. I would never drive under the influence. I’m more of a social drinker anyways.” Laurent smirked. His friend raised an eyebrow beside him. Laurent seemed to take notice.

“Ah! Yes! Owen, this is Edamura. Edamura, this is the friend I was telling you about, Owen.” Laurent introduced them.

“Nice to meet you.” Edamura greeted shyly.

“Nice to meet you too, kid! Cynthia was right, though. You really should loosen up. How about I introduce you to some hot girls who are into nerds like you?” Edamura was too nervous about being introduced to girls to take offense to being called a nerd.

“That’s a great idea! How about it, Edamame? Ready to lose your virginity tonight?” Laurent smirked. Edamura tried not to think about the fact that it sounded as if Laurent himself wanted to take his virginity.

“I’m not a virgin.” Edamura blushed.

“Suuuure.” Abby rolled her eyes.

“Leah!” Owen beckoned a girl over. She had tan skin, but it wasn’t as dark as Abby’s. She had a perfectly white smile and wavy blonde hair that reached to her butt. She was extremely skinny and petite. She was wearing a form fitting black dress.

“What’s up?” She smiled at him. Edamura could see slight hope in her eyes.

“I have someone I want you to meet! This is Edamura. I trust you’ll show him a good time?” Owen grinned at her. Edamura noticed her smile falter slightly.

“Yeah, of course.” She looked at Edamura with a sultry gaze. “Follow me, handsome.” She took his hand and dragged him towards a nearby bedroom. Edamura looked back at Abby and Laurent with a panicked expression. Laurent was smirking at him while Abby seemed to be more interested in her cup.

Once they reached the bedroom, Leah locked the door. She led Edamura to the bed and pushed him down. Edamura was immediately reminded of one of his fathers many old clients. He freaked out and pushed her off of him before she could take his sweater off.

“What’s wrong?” She asked with a hurt expression.

“I-I’m sorry!” Edamura ran his hands through his hair. It became harder to breathe as he attempted to push away the unwanted memories.

“Hey! It’s okay! Just breathe. Follow my breathing.” Leah began taking deep breaths. Edamura matched her breathing after a few moments of struggling.

“I’m guessing you were peer pressured into losing your virginity?” She asked as she sat beside him on the bed.

“Yeah.” He admitted sheepishly.

“Don’t be embarrassed. I should be the embarrassed one. I let Owen pressure me into having sex with a stranger again.” She sighed.

“Again?” Edamura asked.

“I’d do anything for that man, unfortunately. I’m in love with him. But all he does is treat me like shit. And I’m the idiot who keeps going back to him in hopes that one day he’ll see how much I love him and ask me to be his girlfriend.” Leah smiled sadly. “Pathetic, huh?”

“Nah. I get it. It kinda used to be the same way with me and my dad.” Edamura admitted.

“Really? Your dad sounds like an asshole then. You shouldn’t keep forgiving him. Don’t make the same mistakes I do if he’s anything like Owen.”

“The same goes for you in that case. You should take your own advice.” He suggested. Leah pauses in consideration.

“I really should. I don’t know if I’m strong enough, though. I understand why he acts like such an asshole. He tells me he loves me, but he never shows me.” Leah sighed.

“What do you mean you know how he feels?” Edamura asked curiously.

“The truth is Edamura, we’re all fucked up. That’s the one thing everyone at this party has in common. Everyone came here tonight to forget about their sadness and stress for tonight. Not the healthiest way of coping, but I can’t judge obviously.” She chuckled darkly.

“Huh. That’s kinda sad to think about.” Edamura wondered what business Laurent, Cynthia, and Abby had here in that case.

“Yeah, but that’s life. Some people here are gonna end up dead after overdosing on drugs. Don’t be one of those people, Edamura. You’re a nice guy. Stay that way.” Leah smiled at him.

“I don’t want you to become one of those people either. You should leave Owen. I know you feel bad for him with whatever he’s going through, but that doesn’t give him an excuse to treat you like shit constantly.” Edamura frowned. Leah sat silently in contemplation for a few moments.

“I guess you’re right. I should focus more on me instead of him. I’ve been so focused on him I forgot the entire reason I came to California in the first place.” She smiled slightly. It seemed to be a genuine smile.

“You know what? Fuck Owen! And fuck your dad! We don’t need them. We’re better off without them.” Leah smiled brightly.

“Yeah!” Edamura smiled back at her.

“Thanks for this, Edamura. I doubt I’ll ever see you again, but this was a nice talk.” Leah bid him farewell with a wave before exiting the room. Edamura exited and decided he had enough excitement for his first party already. He had too many thoughts of his father swarming around his head. He hadn’t ever wanted to remember them, but they were slowly coming back to the surface of his brain. Edamura headed straight for the front door, until a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He jumped and turned around defensively. It was Laurent, Cynthia, and Abby.

“Did you lose your virginity that fast? Geez, you must have pretty bad stamina.” Laurent chuckled.

“Stop talking about it.” Laurent felt the memories begin to come to the surface much faster. He needed to get out of there.

“Aww! Are you embarrassed?” Cynthia giggled.

“Please, stop! I want to go home.” Edamura replied seriously, a scared look on his face.

“You okay?” Cynthia asked, sobering slightly.

“I’m fine. Just tired.” He frowned.

“Alright, I’ll bring you home.” Laurent replied. With that, the four of them exited the house without saying goodbye.

In the car, the windows were open once again. Edamura kept his face close to the window. The night air blew into his face as they drove on the highway. It was a nice distraction from his thoughts. The loud music blended into the background. Once they neared Edamura’s neighborhood, Laurent glanced at him in the rearview mirror.

“What’s your address?”

“Just drop me off at the park again.” He replied.

“You’re gonna get kidnapped if you walk home at night.” Abby rolled her eyes.

“I won’t. This is a safe neighborhood.” Respecting his wishes, Laurent let him out of the car at the park.

“Text us when you get home.” Cynthia gave him a slightly worried look.

“I will.” He smiled at her. He waved as Laurent drove off.

The walk home gave Edamura time to clear his head. He took deep breaths in and out as he continued to walk down the street. Once he reached the orphanage, he was immediately tackled by Ethan.

“Makoto! You’re back!” He grinned. Edamura hugged him back.

“Yeah.” He smiled.

“Did you have fun with your new friends?” Linda asked from the doorway. Edamura nodded.

“I’m a bit tired, so I’m gonna go to bed now.” Edamura told the two. He wished them a goodnight before trekking up the stairs to his shared room with Ethan. After plopping down on his bed, sleep overtook him almost immediately.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW!!!!! A homophobic slur is used in this chapter.

Much to Edamura’s displeasure, it had become sort of an inside joke within their friend group to call Edamura a virgin. The party had happened a week ago, yet nobody forgot. He tried to ignore it as best as he could. He knew they didn’t mean any harm.

“No, but really. Why do you only seem to own two sweaters and a single pair of jeans and Walmart brand sneakers?” Edamura snapped back into the conversation when he realized Cynthia was talking to him. They had been at lunch, but Edamura hadn’t been paying attention to the conversation.

“Huh?”

“I mean, that’s probably why you’re still a virgin. Your looks practically scream nerd.” Cynthia giggled. Edamura rolled his eyes.

“I just don’t have the extra money to buy new clothes.” Edamura shrugged.

“Hey, Edamame. Ever heard of thrifting?” She asked.

“No? What’s that?” He replied in confusion.

“Thrift stores are stores that have clothes that people have gotten rid of because they don’t wear them anymore. They’re super cheap too! If you go to the right store at the right time you can find really nice name brand clothing for as low as three dollars.” Cynthia explained.

“Shall we take a trip to Goodwill after school?” Laurent asked.

“I still don’t have money, though.” Edamura frowned.

“I’ll pay for a whole new closet for you if I have to! Goodwill is cheap so I don’t mind.” Cynthia told him.

“I’ll chip in as well.” Laurent smirked.

“Stupid rich people.” Abby muttered.

“Are you sure?” Edamura worried.

“Of course! You can fill your entire closet for as low as a hundred dollars! I’m buying you as many clothes that will fit in your closet.” Cynthia smirked.

After school, Edamura went to the parking lot to find his friends. This was becoming sort of a normal routine at this point. He was always hanging out with them after school.

Edamura took his usual seat behind Cynthia in the passenger seat. Laurent rolled down the windows as usual and began blasting his playlist. This time, it was Shake It by Metro Station. To his own surprise, Edamura found himself humming along to the lyrics while his friends in the front yelled the lyrics and Abby sat next to him quietly.

After pulling into the parking lot, Laurent rolled up the windows and turned the radio off. He pulled into a parking spot and turned the car off. They all got out of the car and began walking inside.

When they entered, Cynthia had to refrain from going straight to the pajama section to look for lace shirts. Abby stared down at her phone in boredom. Laurent gazed towards the men’s section.

“Okay, okay. We aren’t here for me, I have too many clothes already. We’re here for you, Edamame! Let’s give you a complete makeover!” Cynthia grinned.

“No makeover can fix that.” Abby commented, not looking up from her phone.

“Rude!” Edamura yelled.

“Alright, lets go look in the men’s section. Or you two can go find stuff you want and I’ll help Edamame.” Laurent smirked.

“There’s no way I’m leaving you in charge of choosing outfits for him. Not after I saw you wear that Hawaiian shirt with plaid shorts.” Cynthia shuddered at the memory.

“That was a joke outfit, I have a great sense of fashion.” Laurent assured her.

“But mine is even better. By the way, these glasses make you look even more nerdy. We’re getting you contacts after this.” Cynthia told him as she began to sort through the men’s clothing. After she had gone through every single rack, she handed a pile of clothes to Edamura.

“Try these on and we’ll see if you should buy them or not.” Cynthia ordered. Edamura sighed as he was pushed into the changing room.

In the end, Edamura ended up getting an entire new wardrobe. He had dozens of bags filled with new clothes. Cynthia had also taught him what to pair with what. Their next stop was the eye doctor.

“Do you know your prescription?” Laurent asked. Edamura nodded.

After Cynthia and Laurent had bought him contacts, to which he felt bad for making them spend so much money on him, they got back into the car. It had taken a while since Edamura didn’t like touching his eye and the lady wouldn’t let him leave until he had successfully put them in and taken them out. 

Laurent blasted Call on Me by Eric Prydz and Edamura smiled to himself. Laurent and Cynthia danced to the music. Edamura couldn’t tell if it was because of the music, but he had that feeling again. The feeling that he had never felt more alive than at this moment. He stuck his arm out the window with a huge smile and felt the wind high five him. He didn’t notice Cynthia and Laurent smiling at him through the mirrors.

“Address?” Laurent asked Edamura.

“Park.” He responded. He noticed Abby roll her eyes beside him. Laurent sighed before dropping him off at the park. He waved goodbye to his friends and got all his bags out of the car. It was a bit hard to carry them all, but he managed it.

“Wow! What did you buy?” Linda asked when he walked in.

“My friends took me thrifting. They also bought me contacts.” He smiled.

“Oh, so you’re gonna look like a whole new person, huh?” She smiled.

“Yeah, I think it’s time I make a change anyways.” He smiled before walking up to his room.

“Hey, Makoto!” Ethan greeted as he walked in.

“Hey, Ethan.” Edamura smiled as he plopped the bags down. They both had their own closets in the room. Ethan’s was filled halfway since he hadn’t grown out of his clothes from when he lived with his parents yet. Edamura looked in his closet and decided not to get rid of his two sweaters. They had been given to him by Linda.

It took him thirty minutes, but Edamura had finally put all his clothes into the closet. He also put his new pants into his drawer and his new contacts into the bathroom he shared with Ethan. Afterwards, he went straight to sleep, completely forgetting about his homework.

The next morning, Edamura woke up early so that he could plan his outfit beforehand to make sure he didn’t look stupid. As he sifted through his new clothes, he tried to remember which colors Cynthia told him looked good together.

After choosing an outfit, Edamura looked at himself in the mirror. He wore a white hoodie with a brown and orange flannel on over it. He also wore light wash baggy jeans. He finished the outfit with a pair of white sneakers. It was definitely different from his usual style, but a good different.

After taking a while to put his contacts in, Edamura began walking to school. When he arrived on the campus of his high school, he noticed people staring at him. He had always been known as the nerd. Lately his grades started dropping and he stopped participating in class. Him getting contacts and new clothes probably made the rumors even worse.

“Is that Edamura? Why is he actually kinda hot now?” He happened to hear a girl whisper to one of her friends.

“The slacker vibe suits him. Bad boys are so hot.” Is that what he was now? A bad boy?

“He still does all his homework though like a teacher’s pet.” A guy next to them rolled his eyes. Edamura’s eyes widened. He had forgotten to do his homework last night. What was even more incredible was the fact that he didn’t even really care. He was done trying to get adopted by impressing couples with his grades. It was obvious they didn’t care about that.

When he got to class, people continued to stare at him. When the teacher called on him, they were even more shocked.

“Edamura? I think you forgot to hand your homework in when you walked in. I don’t have it here.” The teacher told him.

“I forgot to do it. Sorry.” He shrugged awkwardly. There were a few gasps in the classroom and whispers began.

“Makoto Edamura didn’t do his homework? Is the world ending?”

“I love this new attitude and look of his. He’s so cute without his glasses.” 

“Do you think he’d sleep with me?”

“I want him to date me!” 

“Oh, well you can still hand it in late for half credit.” The teacher told him in slight shock.

“We’ll see.” He didn’t know where this new attitude of his came from. The teacher glared at him a bit with furrowed eyebrows.

By lunch time, Edamura made his way to the table he usually sat at with his friends. Before we could get there, a girl stepped in his path. He realized it was Katelynn.

“Hey, Makoto. I really regret what I said to you back then. Can we be friends again?” For some reason, she had her arms folded under her chest. Her breasts were pushed up, but Edamura didn’t look at them no matter how much cleavage she was showing.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea.” Edamura frowned.

“Come on! I broke up with my boyfriend. Maybe you and I could have some fun together. I know you always used to secretly like me.” She grinned seductively. Edamura simply walked past her and ignored the noises of protest she made as he continued walking to the table. He sat down next to Laurent and noticed Katelynn had followed him.

“You should come over after school today, Makoto. My parents won’t be home.” She winked. Edamura scowled in disgust. Laurent seemed to notice.

“Sorry, but Makoto is actually coming to my place after school. I thought you were already aware we’re dating?” Laurent raised an eyebrow. Katelynn sputtered for a moment.

“Those rumors about you being a fag were true?” She glared at Edamura.

“Please leave my boyfriend alone.” Laurent’s smirk fell off his face as he glared at her with malice. She squeaked and finally, walked away.

“Since when are you two dating?” Cynthia giggled.

“We aren’t.” Edamura rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, sadly. Edamame still isn’t aware he’s bisexual yet.” The smirk reformed on Laurent’s face.

“I never said I wasn’t bisexual.” He blushed and tried to cover it with his hand as he looked off to the side.

“Aww! I’m so glad you came out to us, Edamame! You finally trust us!” Cynthia smiled.

“What do you mean finally? I’ve trusted you guys for a while now.” Edamura quirked an eyebrow in confusion.

“You won’t even trust us with your address.” Abby rolled her eyes.

“That’s just because I don’t want you guys randomly showing up at my house and dragging me out somewhere.” He huffed.

“We would never!” Cynthia gasped in mock offense.

“Says the girl who literally kidnapped me.” He chuckled. Cynthia and Laurent began laughing as well and Edamura might’ve imaged this, but he could’ve sworn he saw Abby smirk slightly.

“Anyways, looks like I was right! You won’t be a virgin for much longer!” Cynthia chuckled while Edamura groaned with an eye roll.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi I got second hand embarrassment writing this :’)

A week had passed by since Edamura’s new look and attitude developed. Edamura had been hanging out more and more with his friends and his grades dropped more each day. It got so bad to the point where the school had called Linda.

“What’s this about?” She asked as she sat in a chair in the office. Edamura sat beside her, staring at his lap.

“We’re a bit concerned about Edamura’s grades. They’ve been dropping a lot lately. He went from being a straight A+ student to getting many F’s on his assignments. His grades have already dropped to D’s in all his classes.” The principal frowned.

“I see.” Edamura could hear the disappointment in Linda’s voice. He sighed.

When the meeting was over, he continued walking out of the school with Linda. She had a frown on her face. He had told his friends to wait for him after school, but maybe he should’ve told them to go without him.

“Edamame!” Cynthia waves to him with a smile. He looked over to see his friends standing at the entrance of the school.

“Edamura, we’re going home.” Linda said sternly.

“But-“

“No, Edamura! This is completely unacceptable!” Edamura was shocked. He had never heard Linda yell. She looked worried and upset for him. His friends seemed to catch on after hearing Linda yell. They waved goodbye to him as he walked with her to her car. As soon as they got into the car, Linda began yelling immediately.

“Makoto, I’m glad you’re making friends, I really am! But, you need to keep up your good grades. They’ll get you into college-“

“I don’t wanna go to college.” He replied blankly. She stopped for a moment in shock.

“Well, what do you wanna do then?” She furrowed her eyebrows.

“I don’t know! Nothing! I can’t even see a future for myself. Nobody wants me. I’m gonna be stuck in the orphanage until I’m 18 and then I’ll be kicked out. I’m never gonna have a family. I’m gonna end up homeless and depressed on the side of the road somewhere.” Edamura frowned as tears began to gather in his eyes.

“Makoto, you don’t actually believe that, do you? I’m never going to kick you out. I don’t care if you’re thirty living in the orphanage. Until you’re adopted, I’m your family. I’m not going to let that happen to you.” She pulled him into an embrace. Edamura finally let his tears out. He clenched the back of her shirt as he began to sob into the fabric.

“Why do we have to wait for him.” Abby groaned.

“Because he’s our friend! It won’t be fun without Edamame.” Cynthia replied. The three of them stood at the entrance to the school. Edamura hadn’t told them anything, just that he had a meeting with the principal after school.

After waiting for a while, they finally saw Edamura walk out with a woman. They assumed the woman was his mother, but they didn’t really look alike. Edamura and the woman were both frowning.

“Edamame!” Cynthia yelled, waving. The woman said something to him with a stern expression. When Edamura opened his mouth to talk back to her, she interrupted him with a yell.

“No, Edamura! This is completely unacceptable!” The three friends glanced at each other and took the hint that Edamura wouldn’t be joining them that day. They waved goodbye to him as he followed the woman outside. They followed behind at a safe distance, until they saw them get into a car.

“Shall we head to the student parking lot then?” Laurent asked. Cynthia and Abby were busy looking at the car. Laurent looked to see Edamura sobbing into the woman’s shirt. It worried them to see Edamura break down like that. They thought he was doing fine. They wondered what the meeting was about, but decided not to ask him about it.

When Edamura showed up to school the next day, he looked tired. His friends thought they had all come to a mutual agreement to not talk about it. Apparently Abby hadn’t thought the same.

“Get yelled at by your mom yesterday?” She asked.

“Something like that.” He smiled slightly. Linda and him had talked about Edamura’s plans for the future after that. Edamura told her he had no idea what he even wanted to do after high school. She told him that was completely okay, and that college wasn’t always necessary for a happy and healthy life.

“Ugh. I don’t even know why I decided to come to school today. I’m not feeling it.” Cynthia sighed.

“Let’s skip.” Laurent suggested.

“What?” Edamura frowned.

“You don’t have to come with us. I’m in.” Abby said.

“Yes! It’s been a while since we skipped together!” Cynthia grinned.

“You in, Edamame?” Laurent smirked.

“Yeah, sure.” Edamura responded immediately. The three of them nearly gasped in shock. They hadn’t expected him to go without a fight.

“Let’s sneak out through the gym hallway. There aren’t any cameras at that door.” Laurent informed them.

When all was said and done and they had successfully gotten to Laurent’s car, they were faced with a decision.

“Where to?” Laurent asked.

“Oh! I just downloaded this app called randonaut! Apparently it takes you to weird and creepy places. I’ve seen a lot of people doing it on TikTok. Some people even found dead bodies!” Cynthia grinned devilishly.

“Cynthia?” Abby began.

“Yeah?” She replied.

“Open the app.” Cynthia did as she was told and they had their first set of directions.

The first place it brought them to was the board of education building. They pulled into a parking space behind the building and began walking to where it led them. It ended up leading them to a rusty old swing set in the grass. A single dirty glove sat beside it in the grass.

“Creepy.” Edamura shuddered.

“You guys think a kid died here or something?” Abby asked.

“Maybe, you never know.” Laurent shrugged.

“I got the location of the next place when you’re ready.” Cynthia told them.

The next three locations were burnt down sheds. It was a bit odd that they all led to burnt down sheds of all things. On the way to the next location, there was a graveyard off to the side of the road.

“Oh! Can we go to the graveyard? I like looking at graves!” Cynthia exclaimed excitedly. Laurent parked and they went into the graveyard. Some of the graves were as old as the 1800s. Edamura thought that was fascinating. Once they had looked at all the graves, they went to the next location.

This time, they were led to a warehouse of some sort. It was leading them to a place in the woods behind the warehouse. There was a sign on the fence that said not to enter, but the gate was wide open. They walked down the path and towards the woods. There, they found animal bones. Laurent identified them as deer jawbones. They continued down the path into the forest, but they couldn’t find a way into the place the app was trying to lead them to. After getting bit by tons of mosquitos, they decided to turn around and go to their final destination.

The last place led them to someone’s house. Before Edamura could warn them not drive into the person’s driveway, Laurent did anyways. Once they saw the house, there was another burnt shed in front of it. A man stood outside the house and waved to them. Behind him, they noticed the skull of an animal hanging from his front door. As he started coming closer to the car, they began to panic.

“Turn the car around!” Abby yelled as the man got closer.

“I’m trying!” Laurent yelled back. Finally, he turned the car around and drove as far away as possible.

“That was terrifying!” Edamura yelled.

“Anyone else see the animal bones on that dude’s front door?” Cynthia added.

“Holy fuck I hope he didn’t get my plate number.” Laurent chuckled.

“Should we get a new location?” Abby asked.

“I think that’s enough for today.” Cynthia chuckled.

“More like enough for a lifetime.” Edamura muttered under his breath.

“What time is it?” Edamura asked when he realized the sun was beginning to set.

“It’s six. Need to be home at any particular time?” Laurent asked. He wasn’t sure if his curfew had changed after getting yelled at by his mom.

“My curfew is midnight.” Edamura reminded him.

“My mistake, I forgot. How about we go to the beach for a while?” Laurent asked.

“Sounds great!” Cynthia grinned.

By the time they got to the beach, the sun had already set. It was pitch dark there, aside from the moonlight and stars. They were the only people there. They took their shoes off before making their way onto the sand.

“I wonder what the water feels like.” Cynthia wondered aloud. She walked closer to the water and dipped her feet in.

“How is it?” Laurent asked.

“Perfect for skinny dipping!” Cynthia replied as she began taking her clothes off. Edamura blushed bright red as he watched her slip her shorts off and take her shirt off. He thought her nudity would stop there, but she unclasped her bra and slid her underwear down.

“What the fuck!” Edamura covered his eyes.

“What? I can’t get my clothes wet or else it’ll get Laurent’s car wet. And wearing wet underwear under my clothes would just suck.” She giggled as she stepped deeper into the water. Once she was fully submerged, Edamura uncovered his eyes.

Edamura blushed even brighter when he saw Laurent unbutton his pink Hawaiian shirt. After throwing that onto the sand, he pulled his pants off and his boxers. Edamura tried not to stare at him too much. Laurent noticed and winked at him before running into the water.

“Abby, this is insane!” Edamura turned to her, only to become mortified when he noticed she was taking her clothes off as well. Once the three of them were in the water, it was Laurent who told him to join.

“Come on, Edamame! The water feels great!” Laurent smirked at him.

“No way!” Edamura blushed.

“We won’t make fun of you for your little dick.” Abby yelled.

“Hey! My dick isn’t small!” Edamura defended.

“Sure.” She rolled her eyes.

“Prove you’re packing then!” Cynthia giggled as she splashed some water towards him. Edamura debated it for a while. They did look like they were having a lot of fun. Maybe he could go in with his clothes on? No, Laurent’s car would get ruined. Maybe he could leave his boxers on? Although as Cynthia mentioned, that’d be extremely uncomfortable.

In the end, Edamura sighed as he pulled his black sweater over his head. He heard a wolf whistle from Laurent and blushed deeply. He didn’t have anything to be ashamed of. He was pretty proud of his body, actually. It was just awkward having his friends watch him undress.

When Makoto unbuttoned his jeans and pulled them down, he stopped after reaching the waistband of his boxers. The last time someone had seen him naked was one of his father’s clients. Edamura shook his head. His friends were different. They wouldn’t hurt him. With that thought, he pulled his boxers off and ran into the water.

His first thought was that it was freezing. His second thought was that he was glad he had done it. It was a lot of fun splashing around with his friends. Abby almost drowned him a couple times, and Laurent’s hands might’ve “accidentally” brushed up against his ass a few times, yet Edamura still felt safe with them.

After they had gotten tired of swimming, they laid on the sand completely nude. Edamura gazed upon at the stars happily. He never thought he’d be doing something like this. Oddly, he felt so much more free than when he was with anyone else. He was also happy that he didn’t feel uncomfortable with people seeing him naked anymore. Maybe his next step would be to lose his girl virginity.

After they had gotten dressed, they got back into Laurent’s car. Laurent went down the familiar path to Edamura’s neighborhood.

“Address?” He asked once again.

“Park.” Edamura replied again. Abby huffed beside him. He ignored it.

“Are you sure?” Laurent asked as he went to get out of the car.

“Positive.” Edamura gave them a smile and a wave before beginning his walk home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for the nice comments!! I’m so sorry about the nonexistent updating schedule, but thank you all for sticking with my story!! :)


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